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VAJJFXANDER Eli-MER MCDONALD, OF BROOKLYN, NXV YORK, ASSIGNOR TO WILLIAMPr. JOHNSTON, OF SAIME PLACE.

AINFANTS SEM-.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 289,115, dated November27], 1883. Application filed July 1G, 1853. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom it may conceive:

Be it known that I, ALEXANDER ELMER MCDONA'LD, a citizen of the UnitedStates, temporarily residing in Brooklyn, in the county of Kings andState of New York, have invented certain Improvements in Infants7ASeats, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to provide a simple, inexpensive, andeffective device for sustaining an infant in a sitting position and atthe same time permitting it all desirable freedom of movement. Whensimply set upon the iioor a young infant is liable to fall over fromweakness, and an infant that has begun infant is inevitably more or lesshurt.

`viate these difficulties my invention provides to creep is liable toget into mischief or danger if not closely watched. `If confined in anordinary chair, and the latter be overturned, the To ob a low seat setflat upon the floor, with a supporting back, to which a child may beconned by a belt. This back yields to the natural movements of theinfant, and yet tends to retain the latter in an upright position.

In its simplest form my invention consists, essentially, of a bottomboard or seat, which rests upon the floor, and a back hinged or Ypivoted thereto forward of. its rear side, with different positions.

a spring, which tends to press the back into a perpendicular position,and suitable stops to limit they forward and backward motion of the backand restrain it from being inclined to a reclining position.

My invention also consists in certain other features of construction,all as will be fully hereinafter 'set forth.

In the drawings which serve to illustrate my invention, Figure l is aperspective view `of my seat in its most approved form. Fi g.2 is across-section on line 2 2 in Fig. l. Fig. 3 is a section online 3 3 inFig. 2; and Fig. 4L is a view of the belt for attaching the child to thebackl of the seat.- Figs. 5, 6, and 7 are illustrative perspectiveviews, showing an infant .secured in the seat and occupying three Fig. 8is a perspective view of a modified form of the spring which sustainsthe fbaclr.. Fig. 9 is a perspective showing the spring and hingecombined. Fig.'`

.pendicular position.

10 is a side elevation of the seat on a small scale, showing the extentof inclination of the back. Fig. 1l is a fragmentary section cut throughthe hinge in the same plane as Fig. 3.

Referring to the several figures, and particularly toFigs. l, 2, 3, andl0, letA designate a bottom board or base-piece, vwhich is designed torest fiat upon the floor, and B a back hinged or pivoted thereto andpressed by a spring into an upright or substantially per- This springholds the back elastieally in that position, and gently resists anyeffort to press it forward or backward, and if it be deflected from theperpendicular,v the spring returns it to that position when released.The hinging of the back allows it a limited motion forward and back ofthe perpendicular, and stops are provided to keep it from being inclinedto'o far. The infant is confined lto the back-B by a belt, D, Fig. 4, orby other suitable means, and the tension of the spring aids the child inretaining an upright position, as shown in Fig. 5. The child may readilyovercome the light tension of the spring and lean backward, as showninFig. 6, or forward to reach its toys, as shown in Fig. 7, the springthen aiding the child in resuming the upright position. It will then beseen that when the child wishes to incline its body in either direction,its weight aids it in overcoming the tensionv of the spring; and when itwishes to return to an upright position the spring aids it in liftingits weight. My improved seat is thus adapted to quite young andfeeble-infants to enable them to sit up and play, and teach them toretain of Vthemselves the sitting posture; and it is none the lessadapted to larger babies, who have reached the creeping age, to confinethem safely in a comfortable position for a time, andso relieve themother or nurse of the necessity of constantly attending them to keepthem from mischief or' danger. n,

- The particular method of hinging the back to the bottom board vis notessential; but the method shown in Figs. l, 2, 3, andll has severaladvantages, and forms one feature of my invention. The back is formedwith tenons a a on its lower side, which enter mortises cut jar orshock.

'2 seams through the board A a short distance forward of its rear edge,as shown. A hinge-rod or pins, b b, are then put through the tenons andthe board A.' The tenons fitv the mortises loosely, so that the back Amay be inclined forward or back of the perpendicular to about the extentdenoted by the dotted lines in Fig. 10. When inclined to either extremeposition the tenons'strike against the sides of the mortise, both aboveand below the hinging-aXis, as shown in Fig. 11, thus relieving the rodor pin b of all strain. In Fig. 3 the sides of the mortises are shown aslined with rubber cushions c c', in order that when the back is inclinedthe tenon shall strike-a soft, yielding stop and the back be brought torest without In a recess in the board A, under the bottom edge of theback, is placed the spring or springs, two helical springs, d d, be-

, gether behind the same.

ing shown, with their opposite ends secured,

respectively, to the back and bottom board. The construction of thesesprings and their connection relatively to the back and bottom board issuch that their tension acts to retain the back B in an upright orapproximately perpendicular position, and to elastically resist anytendency to either push it backward orvpull it forward. Then two coiledsprings are used, as shown, this result may be pro! duced by twistingthem in opposite directions until their tensions are equal but opposite,and then connecting their opposite ends to the back and bottom board,respectively. This connection may be effected .by thrusting the ends ofthe springinto holes in the respective boards, as shown. This form ofspring and its arrangement in a recess where it is out of sight andinaccessible, and where nothing can get caught or pinched in it, Iconsider preferable to any other, and it has the advantage of bringingthe spring-so close tothe fulcrum or hinging-aXis that it acts at agreat mechanical disadvantage, so that b ut little strength von the partof the infant will be required vto incline the back. Other forms ofsprings may, however, be used, if preferred, such as the leafspringshown in Fig. 8. The tenons a a are not absolutely essential if someother suitable stop is provided, in which case the backv might besecuredv to the'base-piece by` 'the,springs alone, thus forming anelastic hinge. A cushion or pad, C, is preferably secured upon the backB in the manner of upholstery. The belt D passes through eyes e e 'onthe back B, and its ends are buckled to- The belt may be provided withstrings ff, to which the childs toys may be attached, and with a pocket,g, to hold a nursing bottle. The back B is set at some distance from therear end, h, of the boardA, in orderto prevent the child from topplingover backward, which is very important. The board A might be madeslightly would be able to rock a littleback and forth 5 but I prefer tomake it fiat.

Fig. 9 showsthe sp ring and hinge combined. The hinge consists of asocket, fi, of cast metal, adapted to be let into a recess in the board.A, and in this is hinged a forked holder, which receives the bottom edgeof the back B, .the tenons a w being omitted. The ends of the coiledspring are clamped between the metal parts land the wooden back andbottom board. "When the rubber cushions c c are used, as shown in Fig.3, they are best arranged so that the back,when standingperpendicularly, is supported only by the spring d; but when inclinedslightly in either direction it soon strikes the rubber, and issupported by both the spring and the cushion until inclined so far thatthe limit of compressibility of the cushion is reached, when it isgently stopped. The belt D need not be sold with the seat, but

ymay be supplied by the purchaser, it being only essential that theinfant be in some way confined to the back, so that it cannot fall outforward or sidewise.

l am well aware that chairs for adults have had their backs hinged totheir seats and pressed forward by springs; but such haveI beenincapable of inclinin g forward of the per-A pendicular; also, thatadults chairs for spe cial purposes have had spring-backs without stops;and also that'a tailors seat has had an adjustable back, with a springto `keep it pressed back against a screw-stop, merely as a means ofadjusting the inclination =of` the back. None of these are adapted forinfants seats, as they are all either devoid-of stops to limit theforward movement of the back, or

IOO

the stops are so arranged that the back can have no movement forward ofthe perpendicular, and the springs act to force the back against thestops.

I am also familiar with the combined cradle and chair disclosed in thepatent of EStOney,

No. 113,812, dated April 18, 1871, which hasl a back hinged to a bottomboard and capable of being turned back until it is almost flat upon thelatter and of being drawn forward tothe perpendicular and very slightlybeyond,-and having a spring coiled ybehind the back and rio i tending tohold the latter at an angle of about as it would resist the efforts ofthe childtoas'- sume a sitting position and constantly tend to pull itbackward. Its want of a stop to limit the backward movement of the backuntil it turns down nearly flat uponk thel board, and its" beingprovided with a stop to preventfthesback from inclining substantiallyforward Aof the perpendicular also unfit it for the use for which myseat is designed.

` It is essential to my invention that the spring shall act to press theback into a-l'ierpend'icular position, that stops be provided to preventit from being inclined farther than forty-five degrees in eitherdirection, and that the forward stop permit the back to incline'forwardat least twenty degrees fromthe vertical. The actual inclination whichis permitted in my seat is about twenty to twenty-five degrees forwardand. about fifteen to twentyiive degrees backwardfrom the vertical; buta greater inclination may be permitted without detriment.

I cla-iin as my inventionl. An iniants seat consisting, essentially, ofthe combination of a bottom board, A, a back, B, hinged thereto forwardof the rear end thereof, a springer springs connected to said back-andbottom board,and constructed, substantially as described, so as to pressthe baci; normally to a substantially perpendicular position and resistany effort to incline it forward or back thereof, and stops adapted tolimit the forward and backward movement of the back in substantially themanner and to.

4provided with mortises, back B, hinged thereto, tenons a a on saidback, entering said mortises and thereby forming stops to limit theforward and backward inclination of the back, while permitting the backto be inclined both forward and backward of the vertical,v and spring orsprings d, connected to said back and bottom board, and constructed,substantially as described, so as to press the back normally to asubstantially perpendicular position, for the purposes set forth.

1 3. The combination of bottom board, VA, provided with mortises, backB, hinged thereto, tenons a a thereon,entering said mort-isos, a mortisein the board A beneath and covered by the bottom edge of the back, and aspring or springs, d, coiled on said mortise and their opposite endsfastened to said bottoni board and back, respectively, substantially asset forth, whereby the spring is housed and acts at a great disadvantageof leverage,

In witness whereof l have hereunto signed my name in the presence of twosubscribing witnesses.V

ALEXANDER ELMER MGDONALI).

llfitnesses:

HENRY Conni-rrr, Gno. BAINTO w.

